Reading: John chapter 7 verses 25-53.
Ill:
Water facts Quiz.
Our key verse this morning is verse 37-38:
37On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! 38If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.”
(1). Now the background to our reading - feast:
• Jesus is at the Festival of Tabernacles,
• Or the feast of Booths,
• This was one of the three great feats of the Jews.
• Like all the great Jewish festivals it had a double significance:
First: it had an historical significance.
• It received its name from the fact that all through the feast, people left their houses,
• And lived in little booths, home made shelters, e.g. dens.
• Everywhere you looked you would see these homemade shelters.
• They would be on;
• The flat house roofs, in the streets, the city squares,
• Even in the courts of the Temple.
• The people were not allowed by law to use permanent structures
• But only shelters built specially for the occasion.
• And as you might expect there was rules and regulations,
• Regarding how you built these shelters (Leviticus 23 verses 33-44).
The historical significance of all this was to remind the people in unforgettable way:
• That once they had been homeless wanderers in the desert,
• For forty years,
• They were without a roof over their heads,
• When the Lord “brought them out of the land of Egypt.”
Also during the festival:
• The temple area was light up by large candlesticks,
• Which reminded the people of the pillar of fire that had guided them.
• So the feast was full of graphic symbols,
• Which were linked to historic incidents.
Second: it had an agricultural significance:
• It was a type of harvest thanksgiving festival.
• And it was the most popular festival of all.
• Sometimes it was called simply The Feast, or the festival (1 Kings 8: 2),
• Quote: Josephus called it: “The holiest and the greatest festival among the Jews “
The people who gathered in the temple each day enacted a prayer for rain:
• Each person that had gathered, held a citrus fruit in their left hand,
• Which represented ‘the land of good things’ which God had brought them too.
• In their right hand were a bundle of leafy branches,
• This represented the shelters they lived in during that journey to the promised land.
The priests would be holding a small golden jug:
• The people would accompany him down the streets of Jerusalem,
• Out through the water gate and on to the Pool of Siloam.
• The priest would fill the jug with water and return to the temple.
• It was a reminder to the Jews of the miraculous way God provided water from the rock.
• When they arrived back at the temple,
• The priest would pour the water into a bowl, which was next to the altar.
This was a look back and a look forward:
• Everyone was aware that unless God gave rain in the next coming months,
• There would be no celebration next year.
• So this was a time of thanksgiving for the past,
• And a time of praying for the future.
As we will see in a bit:
• This special ceremony is very closely connected with our passage,
• And especially with the words Jesus chose to use.
(2). Now in the verses we are looking at - dispute:
• We are breaking right into a dispute between Jesus and the Jewish leaders.
• Without going over last weeks sermon let me remind you of the context of our verses.
• Verses 10-13:
• The character of Jesus is being discussed.
• Verses 14-18:
• The doctrine, the teaching of Jesus is being discussed.
• Verses 19-24:
• The works, his miracles are being discussed.
• And now in verses 25-31:
• The origin of Jesus is being discussed.
You can divide the chapter up this way:
• Verses 14-24: You have a discussion on the teaching of Jesus regarding Judaism.
• That is the attitude of Jesus to the Law.
• Verses 25-36: You have a discussion on the teaching of Jesus regarding the Father,
• That is his relationship with him, who is the source & goal of his life.
Up to now Jesus has debated with two groups of people:
• (1st group). Religious leaders (verses 11-36)
• That is the Pharisees, chief priests, Sadducees and the scribes.
• (2nd group). The crowds, the people, they would be pilgrims, visitors to Jerusalem.
• Verses 12, 20, 31-32.
• (Now we have a 3rd group). The Jews who lived in Jerusalem (verse 25).
• They would have sided with the religious leaders.
(3). Debate:
(3a). His Origin: Verses - 25-31:
25Some of the people who lived there in Jerusalem said among themselves, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26But here he is, speaking in public, and they say nothing to him. Can it be that our leaders know that he really is the Messiah? 27But how could he be? For we know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, he will simply appear; no one will know where he comes from.”
28While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I represent one you don’t know, and he is true. 29I know him because I have come from him, and he sent me to you.” 30Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
31Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
The residents of Jerusalem knew what their leaders thought of Jesus:
• The people knew full well the hostility of the authorities towards Jesus:
• So they were surprised to find Jesus preaching in the Temple precincts.
• They were astonished to see his courage in defying the authorities;
• & they were still more astonished to see, he was teaching openly & getting away with it.
A thought suddenly struck them:
“Can it be that after all this man is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God,
And that the authorities know it?”
• But no sooner had the thought struck them than it was dismissed.
• Their objection was that they knew where Jesus had come from:
• They use simple logic to answer their question,
• Only for them 2=2=5, they arrive at the wrong answer.
The logical conclusion that they came to regarding Jesus was simple:
• (1). Nobody knew where the Messiah would come from.
• (2). They knew where Jesus had come from - Nazareth.
• (3). Conclusion: Jesus cannot therefore be the Messiah.
As far as the people were concerned:
• There was no mystery about the background of Jesus.
• He was the illegitimate carpenters son, from Nazareth.
• They knew that his home was in Nazareth;
• They knew who his parents and who his brothers and sisters were;
Again we have to understand what the people believed:
• What they were looking for regarding the Messiah.
• The popular idea among the Jews was that the Messiah was waiting concealed:
• And some day he would burst suddenly upon the world:
• And no one would know where he had come from.
Now verse 27 does not contradict verse 42:
• The one thing they knew about the coming Messiah,
• Would be that he would be born in Bethlehem, David’s town,
• But they believed that was the only thing you could know about him,
• Everything else was a mystery, until he exploded on the scene.
Quote: There was a rabbinic saying:
“Three things come wholly unexpectedly, the Messiah, a godsend, and a scorpion.”
• To the Jews, the Messiah would appear as suddenly as a man stumbles on a godsend,
• Or steps on a hidden scorpion.
So Jesus did not fit their expectations of Messiah:
• Jesus did not measure up to that kind of standard, i.e. A sudden mysterious appearing.
• To the Jews there was no mystery about where he came from.
(3b). Jesus answers to those objections (Verses 28-29):
28While Jesus was teaching in the Temple, he called out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I come from. But I represent one you don’t know, and he is true. 29I know him because I have come from him, and he sent me to you.”
• Jesus raises his voice and makes two statements,
• Both of which shocked the people and the authorities.
(1st). He makes an ironic statement.
Quote William Hendiksen comments on verse 28:
“One can also read the exclamation as a question; thus:
“So you know mw, and you know where I am from?”
Either way, the meaning is the same. Jesus ridicules the very idea that these biased, legalistic materialistic citizens of Jerusalem would actually KNOW him and his origin!”
• Jesus ironically is saying; “You know me, that’s what you think!”
• Many of the great commentators i.e. Calvin, believe he was speaking in a tone of irony.
• The people of Jerusalem had a limited knowledge of Jesus,
• You and I of course have hindsight and the New Testament.
• We know of course that Christ was born of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem,
• The Jews had that in their scriptures but had failed to notice it (Isaiah 7:14).
(2nd) Jesus gives them a truthful answer (vs 29).
• Jesus explained to them that the reason they did not know him,
• Was that they did not know “The Father”.
• In other words he said that they did not know God but he did.
• It was a bitter insult to tell God’s chosen people that they did not know God.
• It was an incredible claim to make that Jesus alone knew him,
• That he stood in a unique relationship to him.
Then Jesus went even further:
• He boldly asserted that he not only knew the Father,
• But that he was sent by him.
Verse 30:
Then the leaders tried to arrest him; but no one laid a hand on him,
because his time had not yet come.
That verse alone illustrates the fact that Jesus was on his Father’s business:
• He would not be arrested or even die a premature death,
• As he trusted in “The father” he would know “The Father’s” timing and leading.
This verse is one of the great turning-points in Jesus’ life:
• Up to this point the authorities had looked on him as a revolutionary Sabbath breaker,
• Which itself was a serious enough charge;
• But from now on he was guilty not only of Sabbath-breaking,
• But a much worse crime, the ultimate sin, of blasphemy.
• As they saw it he was talking of Israel and of God
• As no human being had any right to speak.
Application:
This of course is precisely the choice which is still before us today:
• Either, what Jesus said about himself is false,
• In which case he is guilty of such blasphemy as no man ever dared utter;
• Or, what he said about himself is true,
• In which case he is what he claimed to be;
• And he can therefore be described in no other terms than the Son of God.
• Every man has to decide for or against Jesus Christ.
Quote C.S. Lewis:
“I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say.
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell.
You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon, or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.
But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
Quote the great Methodist preacher Dr Sangster:
• If Christ was a man his death was murder.
• If he was God it was an offering.
• If he was a man it was martyrdom.
• If he was God it was a sacrifice.
• If he was a man they took his life from him,
• If he was God he laid it down himself.
• If he was a man we are called to admiration.
• If he was God we are called to adoration.
• If he was a man we must stand up and take our hats off.
• If he is God we must fall down and give him our hearts.
The greatest question we ever have to answer:
• Is who is Jesus Christ?
• Our response to that answer affects both this life and the whole of eternity!!!
(4). Is Jesus the Messiah/Christ?
(4a). A positive response (Verse 31):
31Many among the crowds at the Temple believed in him. “After all,” they said, “would you expect the Messiah to do more miraculous signs than this man has done?”
• Some of the crowd were believing that Jesus was the Messiah:
• His miracles were a sign to so many people.
• They believed that no one could possibly do greater things than Jesus was doing.
• That after all was the purpose of miracles (signposts pointing out the Messiah).
Ill:
• John the Baptist was having doubts,
• About whether Jesus was the one who was to come or if they had to look for another.
• Jesus himself uses this same argument, he said to John’s messengers.
• “Go and tell John what you hear and see” (Matthew 11: 1-6).
Verse 32: The religious leaders resented the fact that people were trusting in Jesus:
• Wear as they could intimidate most of the people,
• Verse 13 & verse 32 says; “They whispered”, they were scared of the leaders.
• Not everyone would keep their opinions and beliefs quiet,
• Many in the crowd were willing to talk openly about Jesus.
• The religious leaders sent temple police to arrest Jesus,
• But they were arrested by him.
(4b). A misunderstanding Verse 33-36):
But Jesus told them, “I will be here a little longer. Then I will return to the one who sent me. 34You will search for me but not find me. And you won’t be able to come where I am.”
• Jesus said that he was only with them for a little time;
• That “Little time” lasted six months.
• And after that day they would search for him, but not find him.
• Jesus meant by these words, that he would return to his heavenly Father, God.
• Jesus is teaching here, that because these Jews had rejected him,
• They had also rejected the Father.
• They had shut themselves off from God, by shutting out Jesus.
• But those who were listening did not understand.
What a contrast with what Jesus shared with his followers in chapter 14:
• Chapter 7:34: “You won’t be able to come where I am’?”
• Chapter 14:3: “I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”
Verses 35-36:
The Jewish leaders were puzzled by this statement. “Where is he planning to go?” they asked. “Maybe he is thinking of leaving the country and going to the Jews in other lands, or maybe even to the Gentiles! 36What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me but not find me,’ and ‘You won’t be able to come where I am’?”
Throughout the centuries the Jews had been scattered across the world:
• Sometimes they had been forcibly removed as exiles;
• Sometimes they had emigrated to other lands.
• There was one comprehensive term for the Jews who lived outside Palestine.
• They were called the Diaspora, the dispersion,
• And scholars still use this term today, to describe the Jews who live outside Palestine.
• That is the phrase the people used here.
“Is Jesus going away to the Diaspora? Will he even go the length of going away and preaching to the Greeks and so become lost in the masses of the Gentile world? Is he going to run away so far that he will be completely out of reach?”
• The crowds misunderstand Jesus words:
• They think he might be planning to go away on a missionary journey.
(4c). A challenge (Verses 37-39):
37On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! 38If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.” 39(When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)
• As I mentioned at the start of my message,
• All the events of this chapter, took place during the Festival of Tabernacles:
At a certain time during the feast,
• The priest took a golden pitcher, a hug which held about two pints,
• And went down to the Pool of Siloam and filled it with water.
• It was carried back through the Water Gate,
• While the people followed and recited Isaiah 12: 3:
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
• On the last day of the feast, the ceremony was doubly impressive,
• Because the priests would march seven times round the altar,
• In memory of the sevenfold circuit round the walls of Jericho,
• Whereby the walls fell down and the city was taken.
When the priest and the crowd returned to the temple from the Pool of Siloam:
• The priest would pour the water into a bowl which was next to the altar.
• As an offering to God.
Now it was said to be a blessing if you could actually see the water being poured out:
• So before he poured the water,
• The priest would pause and hold the jug as high as he could.
It would seem it was at that very moment (verse 37):
• That Jesus raised his voice, he shouted out his words,
• He wanted the maximum number of people to hear him,
• He deliberately draws the attention of the people,
• Away from the central event of the feast, to himself:
On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink!
It is as if Jesus is saying:
“You are thanking and glorifying God for the water which quenches the thirst of your bodies. Come to me if you want water which will quench the thirst of your soul.”
The verse breaks down in to four parts:
• (a). “To thirst”.
• The word describes an inner longing for something only Jesus can give.
Ill:
‘GSUS LIVE’
• Do you think I am missing out by not believing in Jesus?
• “Yes, watching black & white TV. when you can have colour!”
• Quote: C.S. Lewis “A God shaped hole inside everyone”.
(b). “To come”.
• Spiritual blessings are not automatic, they are for those who come.
• To experience God & his satisfaction, our lives must move in the direction of Jesus.
(c). “To drink”.
• Not only do we need to move in the right direction, but also to act!
• The people are to take in, apply what God has for them.
(d). “To believe”.
• Jesus requires that people take their stand with him, identify with him.
• To be a friend of Jesus, is to be at war against the world.
• And as good soldiers, we not only sign up to be on the kings side & under his authority,
• But we wear the uniform, we identify openly with Jesus.
Verse 38: The promise of Jesus actually presents ‘preachers & commentators’ with
something of a problem:
If you believe in me, come and drink!
For the Scriptures declare that rivers of living water will flow out from within.”
• Jesus introduces that statement by saying, “As scripture says.”
• But no one has ever been able to identify that quotation satisfactorily,
• And the next question is, just what does it mean?
• Will water flow from believers or from Jesus?
There are two distinct possibilities.
(1st).
• It may refer to the man who comes to Jesus and accepts him.
• He will have within him a river of refreshing water.
• It would be another way of saying what Jesus said to the woman of Samaria:
• “Living water” (John 4:10), “Well, spring of water” (John 4:14) “River” always flowing!
Water is often used as a symbol, a picture:
• (a). When water is used for washing it is a picture of the word of God,
• John 15:3, Ephesians 5:26.
• (b). When water for drinking is a picture of the Holy Spirit:
• John actually adds a note about the Holy Spirit in verse 39;
• When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit,
The followers of Jesus would not only drink the living water:
• Water satisfies a persons thirst, more than anything else.
• But they would become channels of living water to a thirsty world.
(2).
• The other interpretation is that “Rivers of living water shall flow from his belly”,
• May refer to Jesus himself.
• It may be a description of the Messiah,
• Which Jesus is taking from somewhere in the Old Testament which we cannot place.
In the Old Testament the symbol of the life-giving water which comes from God:
• Is often found (Psalm 105: 41; Ezekiel 47: 1, 12).
• Joel has the great picture (Joel 3:8):
“And a fountain shall come forth from the house of the Lord “
Whether we take this picture as referring to Christ or to the man who accepts him:
• It means that from Christ there flows the strength and power and cleansing,
• Which alone give us life in the real sense of the term.
To quickly summarize verse 39:
• In the Old testament the Holy Spirit came upon a person for a short time,
• And then disappeared.
• Once Jesus had been “glorified”
• That expression was used about the death & resurrection of Jesus (12:23 & 13:31).
• Once Jesus had ascended back to the Father,
• And the Holy Spirit could then descend at Pentecost.
• He would indwell every believer permanently,
• He seals us and indwells us forever!
• And we can know the Holy Spirit’s refreshing, and cleansing, & power, & fruit,
• Working in us and flowing out to the blessing of others.
The result of this declaration and invitation was division.
(4d). A Division (Verse 40-43):
40When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “This man surely is the Prophet.” 41Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? 42For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” 43So the crowd was divided in their opinion about him
Jesus once again (as he always did & still does) divides the people:
• Some defended him (verse 40).
• Some people thought that Jesus was the prophet whom Moses had promised
(Deuteronomy 18: 15).
• Some thought that he was the Messiah, Anointed One of God;
• Verse 41.
• Then there followed a wrangle about where the Messiah would come from.
• Again the crowd were divided (verse 44).
(4e). A respect (Verse 45):
45The Temple guards who had been sent to arrest him returned to the leading priests and Pharisees. “Why didn’t you bring him in?” they demanded.
46“We have never heard anyone talk like this!” the guards responded.
• They had gone out to arrest Jesus, but Jesus had arrested them!
• And they returned back to their employees without him:
• Because never before in their lives had they heard anyone speak as he did.
• He spoke with authority and wisdom!
Ill:
• Hot air machine:
• “Press here to listen to a speech from your local politician”.
• They came to arrest Jesus,
• And he arrested them with his words.
(4f). A rejection (Verse 47-49):
47“Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. 48“Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him?
The reaction of the chief priests and Pharisees to the temple police was contempt.
• The Pharisees had already made their minds up regarding Jesus,
• They did not want to be confused by the facts.
They were certainly not impressed by the fact that some ordinary people had believed in Jesus:
• The Pharisees had a phrase by which they described the ordinary, simple people,
• They called them the People of the Land, to them they were beneath contempt.
• Because unlike them they did not keep all the 100’s of rules,
• That a godly person should keep.
Quote William Barcley:
“The masses who do not know the law are accursed.” The rabbinic law said:” Six things are laid down about the People of the Land: entrust no testimony to them, take no testimony from them, trust them with no secret, do not appoint them guardians of an orphan, do not make them custodians of charitable funds, do not accompany them on a journey.” It was forbidden to be a guest of one of the People of the Land, or to entertain such a person as a guest. It was even laid down that, wherever it was possible, nothing should be bought or sold from one of them. In their proud aristocracy and intellectual snobbery and spiritual pride, the Pharisees looked down in contempt on the ordinary man.
In verse 48: The religious leaders argument was:
• Nobody who is spiritually and academically on the ball has believed on Jesus.
• Only simple, ignorant fools accept him.
• It is indeed a terrible thing when a man thinks himself either too clever or too good
• To need Jesus Christ -and it happens still.
(4g). A friend (Verse 50):
Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, then spoke up. 51“Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked.
• Nicodemus encountered Jesus in John chapter 3:
• When Jesus told him: “He must …born again or you can never see the Kingdom of God.”
Nicodemus had been doing a great deal of thinking & studying:
• Since his first encounter with Jesus,
• Obviously impressed by Jesus, he seeks to speak up for him.
• It is a timid defense,
• He certainly did not defend Jesus directly.
• He quotes certain legal maxims which were relevant.
• And he was hoping that would be enough to calm down the religious leaders.
• He reminds the Pharisees that the law teaches that every man must receive justice,
• (Exodus 23: 1: Deuteronomy 1:16);
• And part of justice was and is that he must have a right to state his case
• And that he cannot be condemned on secondhand information.
• The Pharisees proposed to break that law,
• But it is clear that Nicodemus did not carry his protest any further.
• Nicodemus heart told him to defend Jesus,
• But his head told him not to take the risk.
• Later at the cross it would be reversed,
• When his heart ruled his head and he declared his loyalty to Jesus.
(4h). A Lie (verse 52:
52They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself-no prophet ever comes from Galilee!”
• There answer has nothing to do with the question Nicodemus had asked them.
• With sarcasm and contempt the leaders reply:
• “Are you from Galilee too?”
• And taunted him with having a connection with the Galilean rabble,
• They told him that obviously no prophet could come out of Galilee
• And Nicodemus said no more.
Had they searched the scriptures they would have found several prophets from Galilee:
• Elijah.
• Elisha.
• Jonah.
• Hosea,
• Nahum & Amos.
• Now any one of the six would do and there are probably more!
• Of course the were prophets who arose out of Galilee,
• But the religious leaders refused to look at the evidence!
Quote I think it was G.K. Chesterton who said:
“When a person rejects the truth of God, they don’t believe in nothing they believe in anything”
(4i). A key place (verse 53).
3Then the meeting broke up and everybody went home.
• Don’t read that as a throw away line,
• It’s a great verse.
• Because when you have been in debate,
• When you have been challenged and had your mind stretched.
• Question: What do you do?
• Answer: You go home and do your thinking!
Ill:
• I wonder if it was then that Nicodemus went home and thought:
• “Yes, I am convinced”.
• Was he lying on his bed at home thinking;
• “How can I get my colleagues to see, they are ignoring the evidence?”
• “How can I get them to realize that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God?”
• Home – key time for thinking things through!
Ill:
Testimony times – The home is the most dangerous place – be careful!
